A Sky Dome Visualisation for Identification of Astronomical Orientations

Abstract

It has long been known that ancient temples were frequently oriented along the cardinal directions or to certain points along the horizon where the Sun or the Moon rises or sets on special days of the year. In the last decades, archaeologists have found evidence of even older building structures buried in the soil, with doorways that also appear to have distinct orientations.

This paper presents a novel diagram combining archaeological maps with a folded-apart, flattened view of the whole sky, showing the local horizon and the daily paths of the Sun, Moon and brighter stars. By use of this diagram, interesting groupings of astronomical orientation directions, for example, to certain sunrise and sunset points could be identified, which were evidently used to mark certain days of the year. Orientations towards rising and setting points of a few significant stars very likely indicated the beginning of the agricultural year in the middle neolithic period.